“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
John 16:7-8
What a privilege it is to meet with you today for the Prophetic DISCRNR’s podcast! I have a message to share with you about when the Spirit comes with conviction.
Do you know that we need this dimension of the Holy Spirit as much as we need the restoration of the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit?
We seldom hear about the conviction of the Spirit taught. We seldom see it experienced. Yet it is one of the classic characteristics of revival. Holy Spirit, I ask for your help as we begin to learn about this topic and I ask for you to bring restoration of the Spirit of conviction.
The Instigator of Experiential Conviction
Our theme verse come from John 16:7-8 and give us our foundation:
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
There is a lot of teaching today on when the Spirit comes with power. This type of teaching is essential, but we desperately need teaching about when the Spirit comes with conviction. He must invade our uncomfortable spaces. He must plow up the hardened places. And that is exactly what He came to do.
In my study of revival history, I’ve had the privilege of traveling to sites where revival has taken place, including the Welsh Revival, Herrnhut in Saxony, Germany, and witnessing the Brownsville and the Asbury revivals. I have observed five outstanding characteristics of classic revival:
1. Passionate denunciation of sin 2. A revelation of God’s holiness 3. A deep awareness of the love and mercy of God 4. A heightened consciousness of eternity 5. An experiential conviction of sin
I believe it is because when the first four are in place then number five follows. When was the last time you heard preaching on heaven and hell? On the judgment seat of Christ? On the holiness of God? These are the very things that prepare the ground for genuine, life-changing conviction.
Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 1:5:
“Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
The gospel was never meant to be merely intellectual information, or presented as a set of facts to be processed and filed away. The gospel came with power. It came with the Holy Spirit. And it came with full conviction.
The early believers were not just people who knew the right things; they were people who were deeply, personally convinced of what they believed. That is the kind of faith that transforms lives, turns communities upside down, and sparks revival. We need that same fullness today.</p
Conviction Versus Condemnation
Some have asked me: “James, isn’t this just condemnation? Doesn’t Romans 8 say there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus?”
Yes, it does. And there is a vital difference between the two.
Condemnation presses you down. It leads to a hopeless dead end. It produces blame and shame with no way out. It says, try harder, do more, you should be better than that.
Conviction is altogether different. Conviction impresses upon us our desperate condition, but it builds a bridge. It points us toward hope and solution, which is Jesus Christ. Conviction leads us not down, but upward into His life and His arms.
We need the Holy Spirit to come and convict the church of worldliness. And we need the Holy Spirit to come to each of us to convict us of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come.
Guilty of Kindness
Years ago, I was driving to pick up my daughter Rachel from basketball practice. I was running late, and I was speeding. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what the speed limit was and I got pulled over.
Now, I made a decision at the moment. I decided that if I was guilty, I was guilty. So instead of being terse or grumpy, I was cordial. I handed over my license and insurance. I owned it.
As it turned out, I had to appear in court. I sat in the back of a packed courtroom, hoping to be incognito. When they called my name, I walked to the front. The judge asked me to approach the bench.
He looked at the ticket and said, loudly, so the entire courtroom could hear:
“According to this ticket, the officer wrote that you are guilty of kindness.”
The whole courtroom erupted in laughter. Case dismissed. No fine. No driver’s school. I walked out that day with a testimony: I was guilty of kindness.
This is a picture of what the Holy Spirit’s conviction looks like. I did not resist it when I was pulled over. I welcomed it. I did not run from accountability. And when I stood before the judge, instead of condemnation, I received mercy.
It is the loving kindness of God that draws us to repentance. He doesn’t want to leave us in our original condition. He wants to bring us closer to Himself. When we welcome conviction rather than resist it, everything changes.
Will You Welcome Him?
The Holy Spirit completes what He starts. Part of His very job description is to be the instigator of experiential conviction. He never forgets. He never misses a chance to reach out to the ones He loves. And He uses our full range of senses, feelings, and emotions to convict us of sin and convince us of the truth.
Wherever you are right now, would you simply say: I welcome the Holy Spirit’s work of conviction in my life and in my family.
Let that be the beginning of something new.
I encourage to you to explore my resource The Feeler: Discovering How Sensitivity Helps You Discern and Act on God’s Voice. This resource will help enrich your understanding of this topic.
God Bless You!
James W. Goll
